Vista: Bootmgr is missing and no operating system showing

Hi, I know this is a popular topic and I have followed all the printed advice to no avail.

1. bootmgr is missing: I have done fixboot which tells me that the action was succesful. but no diference. I attempted rebuildbcd, but it tells me that it is unable to locate a windows installation, and also I cant do the manual bcd for the same reason.
2. No operating system: I have attempted to load vista back on, but during the operation the action fails with " bootmgr is missing" I've got to 67% before it fails. p.s. The operating system problem may have been my own fault as during trying to fix i clicked on the " format" during trying to reinstall.( i thought that there was no room on the hard drive due to previous windows.old programmes using up my space ) although the reason I was initially trying to reinstall was that my computer crashed without any obvious reason

It seems that I have conundrom, where I cant load the operating system on until I fix the bootmgr problem, and I can't fix the bootmgr problem until there is an operating system recognised.

So what is the fix..Is it possible my hard drive is u/s. I have run an old diagnostic cd and it doesn't appear to pick up any fault, although on occasion when I am in the repair environment the fault comes up " No hard drive " although most of the time it reads " missing boot manager "

seriously though i would say you might have a hardware (HDD) Problem... failing that if you have all your data backed up off it i would, durning the install, delete the partition and creat a new one instead of just a format.

maybe try installing Ubuntu onto it, or at least running it from CD and then checking the HDD

hi bobro, thanks for quick reply, the data isnt an issue(its my sons computer). how do i delete and create a new partition. and if i replace my hardrive, will this solve the bootmgr problem, i.e. do all new hardrives carry their own bootmgr.

I would suspect that your C partition has been deactivated. You can reactivate it with the bootable CD of this program (last entry on the page) http://www.partitionwizard.com/download.html Go to he Partition tab > Modify.

Hi whs, currently running partition recovery wizard from ur link, unfortunately scanning taking ages, but seems to have picked lost/deleted files, but I have to wait until full scan complete, looks like it may take a few days, but will report back once scan is complete, Ta

I found that you need the OS disk pop it in load it going through your bios and click install now itll ask you which partition to install the os. click advanced options i think and youll have the options to create delete and format all the partitions that you have.

hi, i just managed to load ubuntu onto the pc, back on the net and everything, although the pc is now running like a burst tyre, but running nonetheless, now i'm really confused..............why can ubuntu be loaded on and not windows, although I'll probably try that in the morning, as u can see i'm burning the midnight oil. but at least now I appear to be getting somewhere........thanks bobro for the tip

Unbuntu is running through your ram.
Since you have Partition Wizard on disk make your BIOS change so your optical device is first boot order.
Boot with PW & delete all partitions.
Then make one new partition and format ntfs. Remove PW disk and insert your Vista disk, reboot.
Install windows and all drivers. (You need these on a cd before trying to install Vista).
Now, after windows and all drivers are loaded and if you want more then one partition insert the PW disk and make a 2nd partition.

an issue I have with loading vista on (apart from the fact that it always eventually crashes, is that it takes literally hours to do so. I've recovered my pc before with a clean installation and I dont remember it taking that long, could this be an indication of a dodgy hard drive ????i'm carrying out your suggestion at the moment g-x, but as I say its taking forever !!!

Shouldn't take that long.
Where are you loading from, DVD drive with original install disk or a recovery partition?
I would think if your hdd was faulty you would hear some noises, maybe.
When you loaded windows before did it take long?
If so then you might have a hardware issue.

g-x, dvd drive with original, and before this issue it never took more than an hour to load windows on, although Some good news and bad, after about 7 hours, I eventually loaded windows vista on my pc, the bad news is that it is so slow, every time I click on an icon it takes about two minutes to react.

The bootmanager message has gone and in the Repair section windows is recognised on the operating system. although when I tried initially to load my internet drivers for my wireless connection, the computer crashed again with a blue screen and a hard error message. The pc started up again ok although it takes ages. I'm looking at replacing the hard drive unless anyone can throw any more light on what the problem may be or suggest any good diagnostic cd's, the hard drive is a western digitial.

What happens if you put a DVD or Cd in and try running from there?
Look in your computer properties on "C" drive and see how much free space you have on your hdd.
Do you have a bootable utility Cd you can pop in and try, like Unbuntu? That would eliminate your hdd for a test.
Check your ram, you never listed any of your system spec's so I don't know what you originally had.

I slaved the problem pc hard drive onto my other computer, reformatted the drive and load vista back on, it took 20 minutes instead of the 8 hours on the problem pc and it was working fine, so I think I can quite happily assume the hard drive is ok. I put the original hard drive back on problem pc, same issues it just wont react. every icon selection takes about 5 minutes to react if at all, although i can get on the internet(explorer) only because I loaded all the drivers whilst connected to my good pc, but it just freezes or as I say takes about 5 mins to react. it also takes about 15 mins to boot up

The question is what component is at fault, and is there anyway of diagnosing the issue to prove it.

You pretty well eliminated the hdd itself?
After loading windows on the slave computer I don't know if you have reloaded your correct chipset drivers.
Hopefully you have the disk and can do so as your system won't run right until you load the correct drivers.
Post back please.

i will check the chipset drivers in due course, but just another point to note. whilst loading vista on hard disk from the problem pc on the good pc, I connected anther hard drive to the problem pc and done a clean install of vista( or attempted too). by the time the good pc had loading vista on the slave HD the problem pc had only loaded 2 per cent. so I'm thinking the issue is outwith the os, but more of a hardware issue on the problem pc ???

Good observation on time of loading your O/S.
Sometimes if you have another pc to compare apples to apples you can find the problem.
One thing you can try on your problem pc is reset the BIOS to default settings.